Made in Hollywood

Judging from the release lists announced by major companies, May this year was very different from the crowds in previous years, and it seemed unusually dull. The predecessor of "The Two Towers", "The Fellowship of the Ring", was popular enough that other companies avoided them one after another, and five Another major factor in the month's lack of blockbuster releases is that George Lucas' "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" was also selected for release in May.

However, the communication between Duke and George Lucas is smooth, and the two have communicated privately for a long time. "The Two Towers" and "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" were selected in May. Tail release, try to reduce the competition.

The car parked in front of the Regent Hotel on Wilshire Street. Duke ignored the flashing lights in the hands of the media reporters and walked straight into the hotel. The staff of the academy had already been waiting here, leading him to the banquet hall. go.

Entering the banquet hall, Duke sat at his table and chatted with Nancy Josephson, who was already waiting here.

This is the nominee luncheon for the 74th Academy Awards. Duke has never attended it before, but this time he followed the persuasion of Nancy and Panney Kelly and came to the Regent Hotel in person. on site.

The reason is very simple. As a very pure commercial director, the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy is the best chance to win the Golden Man of the Best Director, and there are many unwritten rules of the academy, one of which is that if you are a director I don't pay attention to Oscar itself, and in most cases, the director will be ignored when the academy awards awards.

In the past Oscars, there must have been cases where the most important golden statuettes could be obtained without public relations, but they were very few, and since the Weinstein Brothers joined this game about fame and fortune, they wanted to rely only on The works won the four heaviest awards, which can almost be equated with daydreaming.

Just as the academy advertises. Public relations is the embodiment of the so-called will to compete. If there is no public relations, how can the old men who retired from the college show their weight?

No matter what, Duke always has to show an attitude - he takes Oscar very seriously and wants to compete for the statuette.

As for fair competition. A fool would think that.

Just like the list announced later, several black actors have been nominated for heavyweight awards with unprecedented momentum in the past. How well did they perform? Or is the academy sending some kind of political signal?

In fact, anyone who knows a little about Oscar knows that this will be an Oscar with a strong political flavor.

"The 74th Academy Award for Best Director Nominees..."

Somewhat unexpectedly, standing on the stage of the banquet hall announcing the two most important nominations was not a movie star in the industry, but an ugly middle-aged man. When he announced the nomination list, he also took a special look at Duke.

Duke frowned slightly, seeing Roger Albert standing on the stage reading out the list of nominations, he had to consider whether the academy was making a hint?

He has never overlooked the power of critics during awards season.

Roger Albert stood on the stage, his eyes swept across the list of nominees in front of him. Then he looked not far away, the director he deeply hated, sitting there quietly, as if the list to be announced had nothing to do with him.

"It's not difficult to get a nomination. If you want to get the best director..." Roger Albert sneered in his heart, "First ask more than 300 film critics in North America if they agree!"

Although the Oscar nominees were only announced today. However, many awards during the awards season have already announced their winning results, including the New York Film Critics Association Award, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, the Chicago Film Critics Association Award, the Directors Guild Award, the Producers Union Award, and the Golden Globe Award. The nominees for The Fellowship of the Ring all failed miserably.

He is confident that the film will win at most a few technical awards at the Oscars. Wanting to win the heavyweight award is purely a dream!

And he has communicated with many people that this kind of non-realistic film, even in the next two years, don't think it will do much.

"The nominees are Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind, David Lynch, Mulholland Drive, Ridley Scott, Black Hawk Down, Duke Rosenberg, The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring"..."

The nomination list is not unexpected, "The Fellowship of the Ring: The Fellowship of the Ring" is the biggest winner, taking best makeup, best soundtrack, best cinematography, best editing, best director, best art direction, best costume A total of thirteen nominations for design and more!

But Duke is well aware that, aside from a few consoling technical awards, The Fellowship of the Ring is unlikely to do much at this Oscars.

Of course, there will be no next year.

It's not yet time for him and Warner Bros.

The nominee luncheon was held in the form of a formal banquet. After the nomination list was announced, the banquet hall inevitably turned into a social arena. As the biggest winner in the nomination list, there were many congratulatory people coming over from Duke, which seemed unusual. lively.

Roger Albert sat in front with several senior members of the academy. His position was right where he could see where Duke was. Seeing the young director surrounded by countless people and complimenting him, his eyes flashed with resentment. .

Compared with the other party, he, a film critic who was highly regarded a few years ago, can only sit with a bunch of old men now, waiting to be sent into the dust pile of history by time.

No one is willing to take the initiative to withdraw from the stage of history. In the film industry, fame and fortune are closely linked, and giving up fame means losing most of the profit. His vital interests were once ruthlessly stepped on by the other party, so how could he be willing? quit?

What he thought was that, as a leader in North American film critics, he could live on forever until his death!

A few old friends around ate something casually and left the banquet hall. Roger Albert refused their invitation, but sat here peacefully, waiting for an opportunity.

Although there are sharp conflicts with each other, and there are irreconcilable conflicts of interest, they have not actually met a few times.

The Oscars won't be held until next month, but Roger Ebert thinks he's already won a game, and what's the victory if he doesn't say a few words in front of Duke Rosenberg value? How could he vent the breath he had held back for years?

After waiting for a long time, Roger Albert saw that there were fewer people around Duke, stood up and walked over unhurriedly.

"Duke, someone's here..."

Just after shaking hands with Ridley Scott to say goodbye, Duke heard Nancy Josephson's reminder and turned to look, the sneer on the corner of his mouth was fleeting.

Even a fool could see Roger Albert's slightly raised chin and a bit of arrogance on his face, as if he was a victorious king.

"Can I sit here?" Roger Albert came over and pointed to the seat opposite Duke.

This is a public occasion, and there are many people who are paying attention. Duke can't drive him away. He nodded and said, "You're welcome, Mr. Albert, just sit down."

"thanks!"

Roger Albert sat across from him, his eyes fixed on Duke, "Congratulations on your thirteen nominations."

Duke smiled, "Thanks."

"It's a pity..." Roger Albert seemed to really feel sorry for him, "The film is of a non-realistic type, with too much commercial elements, it should be like the previous series of awards, and it won't do much. ."

"It's okay," Duke said lightly, "I've always been very patient."

"You can't get the best director." Roger Albert lowered his voice a little, and said in a voice that only people at this table can hear, "I can assure you that as long as you make commercial films, you will always be Don't try to win Best Director, like this awards season, you're only going to get a bunch of nominations!"

"It's not bad to have a nomination." Duke still had the expression he didn't care much about.

Roger Albert frowned, with an inexplicable smile on the corner of his mouth, "Remember the advice I gave you when we first met?"

"First meeting?" Duke had long forgotten, who would care what a film critic said.

"That's right!" Roger Albert's face became a little ugly. The truth was in front of him. When Duke Rosenberg was a little guy, he didn't take him seriously!

He smiled again at the corner of his mouth, "A director should have more artistic pursuits, instead of making a bunch of visual and sound effects garbage!"

"Art?" Duke smiled. "I'm sorry, I haven't learned how to make an art film."

"It's very simple..."

At this time, Roger Albert's words were full of earnest teachings, "Film criticism is the best guide to avoid the commercialization of films and ensure the artistic quality of films. As long as you can listen to the opinions of film critics, I can guarantee that it will be no more than five years at most. , you can get the best director statuette!"

He knows very well what the cost of the opposite director's foothold in Hollywood is. If the other party is really eager for the golden man, he may make some decisions that will destroy the basis for his survival in the film industry!

When Roger Albert came over, he thought of this. He not only wanted to show off this small victory, but also used this victory to sway some of the opponent's mind as much as possible, trying to destroy it. Get rid of this director who almost destroyed the cornerstone of film critics' business income!

What is it that the other party relies on to rampage the world's film market? Roger Albert sees very clearly, that is business!

Without vulgar themes and plots, without the endless abuse of special effects, will Duke Rosenberg still be Duke Rosenberg?

He will definitely be abandoned by the audience!

As a decades-old film critic, Roger Ebert knows how seductive an Oscar can be for a director, see Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard and Steven Soderbergh Let’s look at these directors, which one didn’t change his style in order to get the golden statuette, and desperately cater to the taste of the academy?

Hearing Roger Albert's remarks, Duke suddenly burst into laughter, and his smile was extraordinarily brilliant. He didn't expect that someone would use the means he used to deal with him! (To be continued ~^~)

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